Change of Plans
by Shesamadwoman
Summary: Four years after Hogwarts Rose Weasley finds herself nowhere near her teenage dreams. That is, until a masked stranger shows up at her uncle's annual New Year's party and offers them to her. Can two childhood enemies become friends through a midnight offer? (yeah...I suck at summaries)


**Change of plans**

Life has a way of changing a man's plans; especially a parent's plans for their child's life. Not everything will go exactly as you plan; even your plans for your own life will eventually be changed by something someone else does.

"May I have this dance?" Rose turned away from Albus to look up at the masked stranger behind her. The silver silk mask easily covered his entire face and hair, with a sheer fabric covering his eyes, completely stopping her from making a guess at who the mysterious man was. She hesitated for a moment before taking his hand. His voice was familiar, but there were many people at this party that she knew. Not many completely hid their identity though. Perhaps he had simply been in one of her classes at Hogwarts. Nobody had ever fancied her at Hogwarts though.

While she had been thinking, the masked man had led her onto the dance floor. She was pulled from her thoughts by his gentle touch just below her shoulder blade. _'At least he's respectful.'_ She thought to herself as the music started. Her own purple mask only covered the top half of her face, leaving her fiery red hair obvious and her chocolate brown eyes uncovered. The song soon started and Rose moved her hand up to the man's shoulder as he led her into the gently swaying dance, easily keeping with the music. The last time she had danced with someone this good, though she would never admit it, was in her seventh year when she had been forced to dance with her fellow Head and the boy she had hated since first year, Scorpius Malfoy.

'_But he would be a boy no longer,'_ she silently told herself. It had been four years since she had last seen him face to face and she was certain he would've changed. At least, appearance wise, possibly. Knowing him, he was probably still the same infuriating person he had always been.

She was pulled from her thoughts again and mentally scolded herself for letting her mind drift like it had. She shouldn't have been thinking of Scorpius when she was dancing with somebody else. Somebody that was far more respectful than he had normally been. "You look wonderful tonight." Rose smiled at the words but couldn't push off the feeling that his voice was so familiar. "Thank you," she replied softly. "Why are you hiding your face?" She asked curiously. It was a masquerade ball but everyone, even her cousin Fred who normally would've jumped at the opportunity to trick people, had a portion of their faces showing, always enough that you could recognize them. The man shrugged slightly and looked down at her (at least she thought he was; it was hard to tell). "Some people would prefer if I wasn't here. An invitation to Harry Potter's New Year's party was something I simply could not pass up. So, I decided that if I could come masked and not bother those people, I would." Rose looked up at him curiously. _'Why would people not want him here?'_ She asked herself silently.

The final note of the song tapered out and the stranger released her. "It was nice seeing you again, Red." He said as he reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her hair. He seemed to wait for her reaction before turning around. It was only when he was a few meters away when realization finally clicked. The familiar voice, people not wanting him there, and the nickname. Merlin, how she hated that nickname. She wasn't very fond of the boy that had made it up either.

She quickly began weaving through her way through the crowd, keeping an eye on the silver mask, in an attempt to catch up with him. While she was no longer uncertain of whom he was, she didn't know why he would have danced with her. She eventually caught up with him and grabbed his sleeve before pulling him through the nearest door, ending up on a balcony with him. "What really made you come,_ Scorpy_?" She demanded. The young man chuckled at Rose and reached up to take his mask off, letting his Malfoy blonde hair fall naturally. It barely reached his ears and eyebrows and stuck up slightly on the top; just like it had in school. His gray eyes easily betrayed his amusement as he looked down at her. "It only took a whole dance, Red." He combed his fingers through his hair, making it stand up even more. "I already told you, I came here because an invitation to Harry Potter's party was not something I could simply pass up." Rose crossed her arms and stared up at him, trying to ignore the cold air that easily flowed through her dress despite her uncle's warming charm. Apparently a mansion and the full grounds were too much for a simple charm. "Fine. But why did you dance with me? Surely you knew it was me and you have hated me sense first year."

Scorpius chuckled at her comment and shrugged as he answered, "That may or may not be true. Either way, life has been pretty boring without a fiery red head around." Rose gave a humorless laugh and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well life without an infuriating blond around has been fairly relaxing." Scorpius eyed her curiously before raising an eyebrow. "You can't honestly expect me to believe that you actually enjoy that Weasley." Rose was surprised but shoved it down before it could show. "And just why do you say that?" The 'fiery red head' asked. Scorpius chuckled and looked out off the balcony for a moment before turning back to Rose. "Do you remember in our seventh year when we were picking jobs?" Rose nodded slowly, trying to figure out where he was going with this. Surely he didn't remember hers. After several moments, Scorpius proved her wrong. "What happened to traveling the world?"

Rose stared up at him, taken aback by his memory. Scorpius turned to look at her again, his expression hard to read in the shadows he had retreated into. "Mother wanted me to get a more practical job, something at the Ministry. She's been looking for a job for me, but Father insisted I wait a few years before getting a job." Scorpius chuckled, much to Rose's surprise, and continued to study her. "Come on Weasley, you've got to do better than that if you want me to believe you're enjoying life like this. You can't honestly want a job at the Ministry, especially if someone else has gotten it for you." Rose glared up at him defiantly. "And just what makes you say that?" She asked angrily, just for Scorpius to smirk. "We were in most of our classes together for seven years, prefects together for two, and Heads together for one. I know that you hate charity and getting things without working for them. I also know that you hate staying in one place for too long. Staying here for four years must be driving you insane. I probably know more about you than most of your closest friend."

Rose stared at him in silent shock. He had just read her better than even her mother (or any of her family for that matter) had. "But, you're scared of disappointing your parents by not doing what they want you to do. Your whole family has been praised since the Battle at Hogwarts and you're afraid that by not working in the Ministry as your mother wishes will hurt that reputation." Rose was silent for several moments as she registered everything that he had said. She hardly jumped when she felt Scorpius laid his jacket over her shoulders moments before she turned to look at him. "How did you read me so easily?" She asked softly. Scorpius Malfoy, the boy that she had hated for ten years, had just read her like an open book. "Because we're so much alike, except I've already rejected my father's dreams for me," Scorpius answered before leaning his elbows on the railing beside her.

Rose bit her lip slightly and looked down at the shadowy figure running across the grounds of the mansion. "They're going to start the fireworks soon," she murmured quietly. It was odd, yet very true, how Scorpius compared himself to her. "I know. What do you think Weasley?" He asked, pausing before saying, "I actually came to ask you something. I need someone to travel with and everybody has turned me down, including Anthony Zabini." Rose turned her head and looked up at him in surprise and found herself staring right into his gray eyes, realizing for the first time that there were flecks of blue in them, like bits of sky through a storm cloud. His determination was obvious in them. It was right then that she realized just how much he had changed. He truly had grown up and was no longer the boy she had traded insults with. He was now asking her to travel with him, something they had both wanted to since they were kids. But she had never imagined her adventures to include him.

She smiled just as the first firework exploded into the air. "I'll go!' She shouted over the following bursts. She could see Scorpius grinning beside her, the light from the fireworks reflecting off the cloth of the mask in his hand.

It was a new year and things would definitely change this time around.


End file.
